


Meet Cutes

by Stralia_Harker



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dorks in Love, Falling In Love, First Meetings, Fluff, Funny, M/M, Meet-Cute, Modern Era, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:41:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28887771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stralia_Harker/pseuds/Stralia_Harker
Summary: Various meet cute one shots, adorable first meets for the boys.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 12
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

Steve was in a rush, his alarm hadn’t gone off and he woke up almost half an hour later than he meant to. He’d managed to get himself in order and made it to his bus on time. He was out of breath but grateful, he was able to find a seat, fidgeting to make sure his outfit looked ok. He had an important interview this morning, if this went well he could finally leave his father’s company, finally be on his way to being his own person. So he was nervous, desperate to make the right impression. Once his stop came he grabbed his bag and made his way out to the street. Checking the directions he headed up the street, once outside the building he checked his bag, made sure his portfolio was together, and finished straightening out his clothes. He turned and checked his reflection in the window in front of him. His hair was a little out of sorts so he quickly fluffed it up and made sure he got it in order. He had just finished getting it all just right when he noticed the guy sitting in the window, he had gorgeous blue eyes and Steve faltered, the guy smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up, Steve blushed and rushed away. 

Around half an hour later he came down, he was grinning ear to ear. Everything had gone perfectly and in two weeks time he would be working his dream job, finally able to leave his father’s expectations behind. He pulled his phone out, texting Robin, he was on cloud nine, smiling brightly at the string of celebratory emojis Robin sent his way. 

“They must be special to make you smile like that.” Steve looked up to see the guy from the cafe standing in front of him. 

“My best friend, she’s just excited for me, I got a job I was hoping for.” Steve smiled out, he kind of wanted to shout it out but he’d settle for telling this stranger. 

“Well congratulations, explains why you were checking yourself out earlier.” Steve blushed, and let out a laugh.

“That was a little embarrassing.” he said

“It’s a nice view. You’re cute when you blush, anyone ever tell you that.” Steve giggled, if you asked him about it later, he’d tell you it just had to do with his happiness over the job.

“Can I take you out this weekend? Celebrate this job, get to know you?” Steve nodded.

“It would help if I knew your name though, I’m Steve.” 

“Billy, nice to meet you Steve, I might just call you pretty boy though.” He smiled mischievously at Steve. Billy pulled his phone out, entering Steve’s number, and sure enough he had put Steve under the alias “Pretty Boy.” He sent Steve a string of winking emojis and a text that read ‘Friday 8 pm’  
“See ya Friday, pretty boy.” Steve’s face hurt from all the smiling, as he watched Billy walk away. Today was definitely the best day of his life.


	2. Single Rider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A carnival date perhaps?

Steve was trailing behind his friends, he was taking in the sights of the carnival, checking out the games and trying to figure out which of those wonderful food smells were coming from. He figured he could slip away while the couples were on one of the rides and be able to go indulge his sweet tooth. He could hear Robin’s laugh and looked up to see Heather attempting to feed her cotton candy. He smiled at their antics, Nancy and Jonathan were just ahead of them, holding hands as they walked through the carnival, headed toward the ferris wheel. 

Though Steve was having a decent time he still wondered why he had agreed to come. He usually ended up as the extra wheel, whether it be third or fifth. He usually trailed behind his friends letting them all walk side by side with their significant others. On more than one occasion a hostess had mistaken him for a single patron, assuming the other four were a group. While he was happy for his friends, it generally sucked to be constantly reminded that you were alone. They’d tried to set him up a few times, but it always ended in disaster as somehow they really didn’t know who Steve was compatible with. After the last disaster, which had ended with Steve being stranded and holding the check, he’d stopped letting them set him up. 

The unfortunate fallout was that he was now perpetually alone and had to endure being dragged out on group outings. Though they weren’t allowed to set him up they still pointed out various people they thought he should approach. He mostly ignored them, though he did find the eye candy nice sometimes. Today had been a little better, they had only pointed out a few people, mostly they were caught up in each other. Nancy was carrying around a stuffed bear that Jonathan had won her and Robin had stopped them so she could win some fish Heather had seen.   
Steve had to laugh at the look of determination on Robin’s face as she focused on popping the balloons. She just needed two more to get the damn fish. Steve wanted to tell Robin it would probably be cheaper to buy one than play the game. Jonathan was standing behind Nancy, arms around her, chin hooked over her shoulder as they watched. They both looked so happy and content, it made something stir in Steve. He knew he didn’t have any feelings left for Nancy, finally able to get over her, but still there was something. 

He shook the thoughts off and started scanning the crowd, just people watching. There were families and teenagers running about, and a surprising number of couples. But given the bear Nancy was holding and Robin being intent on winning a prize for Heather, he could see why it would be a date spot, not to mention most of the rides were set up for couples. As he was watching people he noticed a guy with dirty blonde curls leaning against one one of the games, he had sunglasses on and seemed to be with a couple, taunting his friends' attempt to win a prize. Steve was mildly interested, he hadn’t seen this guy around before. He was wearing a pair of jeans that hugged his body just right and his shirt was open to the navel, Steve vaguely wondered what the point of the shirt was. He startled when he looked up and realized the guy was peeking over his glasses, he winked at Steve, then turned back to his friends. Steve felt the blush creep up his face. He hoped his friends didn’t notice, otherwise they’d probably embarrass him. 

“YES!!!” Steve looked over as Robin shouted out, Heather throwing her arms around her, as the attendant started pulling the bright orange fish down for her. 

Steve was just grateful that both animals were small enough for the girls to carry on their own, he wasn’t too keen on having to hold their prizes while they went on rides. He was grateful for small victories. Heather hugged her fish to her chest as Robin grabbed him, dragging him along toward the rides once again. They bypassed the ‘Tunnel Of Love’ ride and Steve let out his breath, nothing more depressing than being a third wheel on that ride. Instead they finished their trek to the ferris wheel. Of course, the sun was starting to go down so the view would be nice. Once they got to the ride the couples of course got into their own seats, leaving Steve by himself. The ride operator told Steve to hold tight and let the next couple on, he let two more on then finally let Steve on, telling him he was going to have to see if their were any other single riders, Steve nodded, at least Robin and Heather were a few carts ahead of him so they couldn’t give him any shit. 

“SINGLE RIDER!” the attendant called out, “NEED ONE MORE!”

Steve had taken his seat, leaning back hoping it was someone who wasn’t too annoying, someone who would just enjoy the ride with him, maybe not try to make too much small talk. He had turned back to see if anyone had made their way up when he saw the guy from earlier hop over the rail, bypassing the entire line. The guy handed the attendant his ticket and actually sauntered to the seat, sliding in next to Steve. Steve’s heart had sped up a little and he definitely had butterflies now that he was seeing this guy up close. He was absolutely gorgeous, he had tan skin and when he took his glasses off, he had the most gorgeous pair of eyes Steve had ever seen. They were a beautiful blue with the kind of lashes girls would kill for. Steve definitely wasn’t mad at his current situation.

“Hey there pretty boy, saw you earlier. Names Billy, what’s yours?” 

“I’m Steve.” 

Billy smiled as Steve introduced himself, Billy had been taken by the guy earlier. He’d seen him while he was standing next to Tommy who was making a fool of himself trying to win some overpriced stuffed animal. He’d been looking over the crowd and spotted Steve, who was standing with two other couples, looking bored. He noticed when Steve started scanning the crowd and by some lucky move, he managed to catch his eye and sent him a wink. His attention had turned back to Tommy and when he went to look for Steve again he was no longer by the game. He was kicking himself for not keeping a better eye out and hoped he would see the pretty boy before again before the night was over. 

It was a happy accident that he was by the ferris wheel, he’d wandered off on his own after Tommy and Carol had started fighting. He’d been about to light a cigarette when he spotted Steve sitting on the ride, as soon as he heard the call for another single rider Billy practically vaulted over the rails and pushed his way ahead of the line, he was getting that seat, he wanted to meet this beautiful boy. He turned the charm on right away, pulling his sunglasses off as soon as he was in the seat. He was hoping he wasn’t wrong about Steve, but either way, he’d at least get to sit next to him for a little while.

“Where are your friends at?” Billy asked

“They’re up there somewhere,” Steve said, pointing to the buckets above them. “Where are yours?”

“Fuck if I know, they started fighting again, it’s like all they do is fight and fuck. The times they actually interact like normal people are few and far between.” Steve had to laugh at the annoyance in his voice. 

“Mine are always all over each other, they always like to drag me out with them, but I’m always the extra wheel.” 

“Same here, gets kinda annoying having to entertain myself when they start either fighting or making out.” Steve laughed. 

“I mean they try to include me and I feel bad if they stop acting like couples so they don’t make me feel bad. I think that’s why they make me go with them, cuz sometimes I’ll just stop hanging out, cuz I feel guilty.”

“Well that’s sweet of you to feel guilty, but it does suck when you want to hang out but also don’t want to. Sometimes I just wanna be with my friends and hang out, hard to do when they’re coupled up.” 

They had been so caught up in the conversation that they hadn’t noticed the ride was almost over. They were at the top waiting as each basket was emptied, Steve found himself feeling a little disappointed that they were almost done. Billy had actually been a great ride companion. He was nice and charming, and Steve liked him. Steve knew he wasn’t reading the situation wrong, not with the way Billy had practically knocked everyone out of his way to get to him. So Steve took his shot, he leaned forward and kissed Billy as they sat at the top of the ferris wheel. He was delighted when Billy kissed back.

“Wanna ditch our friends and hang out the rest of the night?” Steve asked when they pulled apart.

“Absolutely,” Billy said as he took Steve’s hand.


	3. M2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy can't find his cat. The cat keeps leaving Steve gifts and Max is gonna hate them both.

Billy was ready to throw in the towel, he’d been up and down the alley and through the courtyard three times and he still couldn’t find his stupid cat. This is the third time in the last week she’d escaped, Billy was just grateful that she was fixed, he really wouldn’t be able to deal with kittens. He had checked the places he found her the last two times, and still no luck. He was tired and wanted to go home and have dinner. But no, here he was wandering around his apartment complex like a complete jackass because he had let Max and her friend Jane talk him into adopting a cat. He was about to give up and go home when he heard someone yell.

“OH SERIOUSLY!!! This is the third time this week, don’t you have a home?” 

Billy made his way over toward the voice and as he turned the corner he saw his orange tabby sitting in front of some stranger’s door. The guy was looking adorably put out, he had a small pout on his face as he eyed the mouse the cat was proudly standing over. Billy had stopped, his breath hitching at the owner of the voice, he’d seen the guy around the complex a few times. He’d never had an excuse to talk to him, at least one that didn’t sound borderline creepy. Billy recalls seeing him in the pool once. He’d moved through the water with ease, doing laps, Billy hadn’t been able to take his eyes off his lithe body as he’d stood dripping water onto the concrete. One time their eyes had met when they were checking their mail, Billy may or may not have a slight crush on the guy. Which sounded a little sad since he didn’t even know the guy, just liked looking at him. 

“Sorry, about that, she keeps getting out. I can’t figure out how,” Billy said as he scooped the cat up.

“I don’t mind her, it’s her, it’s the gifts I could do without,” Steve said as he motioned to the mouse lying on his doormat. 

“It looks like she’s adopted you. I’ll take care of it for you if you want.” Steve smiled at him and shook his head.

“I can get it, and it’s nice to be the one adopted, considering I somehow adopted my ex-girlfriend’s brother and all his friends.”

“Well seeing as she’s decided you’re family I guess introductions are in order, I’m Billy and I call this one M2.”  
"I'm Steve, what’s M2 stand for?”

“Mad Max, the second, cuz she looks and acts like my pain in the ass little step sister.” Billy smirked.

“Your sister leaves dead animals on stranger’s doorsteps?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I wouldn’t put it past her, she can get a little crazy.” Steve laughed and Billy fell just a little more in love. He was about to ask Steve to hold M2 so he could clean the mouse when he heard Max’s voice.

“Biiiillllllyyyyy!! Why aren’t you home! I came for dinner. FEEEEED MEEEEE!!!!” He shook his head, and looked at Steve as he rolled his eyes.

“That would be Max. OVER HERE SHITBIRD!!” 

“What the hell are you doing over here? Oh hey Steve.” Billy did a double-take when he realized she was talking to the brunette. 

“You two know each other?”

“Yeah, Steve used to babysit us.”

“So you’re the cute babysitter Max used to talk about.” He turned to Max, “You got decent taste, I mean I’m not sure what your little boyfriend would think about you calling Steve ‘a total babe,’ but I gotta say I don’t disagree.”

Max turned red and grabbed the cat from Steve. “I hate you, I’m going back to your place, dinner better be good.” 

“I don’t know how the hell we never met, but you wanna come have dinner with us, I’ll show you Max’s baby pictures.”

“She’s gonna hate us both. I’m in.”


	4. Grandma Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miss Lily is up to something.

Miss Lily was looking at him again, he’d been reading her some poetry from Yeats, he noticed the way she kept studying him. He was beginning to get a little self-conscious. She kept smiling too like she was plotting something, he was sure she was, Lily could be a sneaky little thing, luckily her schemes were always in the best interest of whomever she had targeted. She didn’t have a mean bone in her body. That said, he was still a little uneasy to potentially be the target of one of her plots. He only hoped she hadn’t joined forces with Margaret in order to set him up with Margaret’s niece. Most of the ladies here had a niece or a granddaughter they thought Billy would hit it off with. He’d always had to find a way to politely decline, he was flattered they found him worthy though, given his high school reputation. It’s not like it had been that long ago, he only graduated last year. Just as he finished the poem Max poked her head in.

“Hey Billy, I was sent for Lily, they wanted her in the rec room.” 

“Oh, my grandson must be here. He’s singing for us tonight. He’s got a lovely voice.” She was beaming at Billy, clearly proud of her grandson.

“Now I’m jealous, you said I had a lovely voice.” Billy smiled at her as he helped her to her feet. 

“And you do, perfect for reading, especially the poetry, it’s very soothing. I haven’t heard you sing though, but I doubt I’ll like anyone’s voice more than I like my Steven’s. Stay and meet him, I think you two would get along, he’s a bit of a romantic like you. He writes his own songs.” 

He smiled at her and held his arm out, Lily linked hers with his as they walked to the rec room. He’d never been able to tell her no, she was such a wonderful lady, she treated him like he was her grandson, always wanting to hear about his day, making sure he was eating and sleeping enough. He thinks it had to do with her missing her own grandson. He’d moved away before Billy had arrived, went to some fancy private boarding school for his senior year. She was always lamenting the distance, saying he used to come to see her two or three times a week, but now he was in college in Indianapolis, studying to be a music teacher. She was quite proud of him, and Billy wondered if she bragged about him to other people as well. 

Lily’s eyes lit up the moment her grandson came into view, he smiled wide, coming over to hug her. Billy stood off to the side, not wanting to make their reunion awkward. He had started making his way over to Max when Dustin and Will went rushing past excited to see him. Max came and stood by him, she had a little gleam in her eye as well, he wasn’t sure what she was up to, but then again it was Max, she was always up to something.

“Look at you making heart eyes at Steve,” she smirked. 

“I am not making heart eyes.” 

“Well, you’re definitely checking him out, that or you’re jealous that Lily is hugging him.”

“Not jealous, and not checking him out. “ Billy lied, he knew Max knew this too.

“You can look, he’s really nice, Dustin loves him, says he’s like a big brother and Will is always calling him for advice.” 

“When did you meet him?” Billy asked.

“Last summer, he was in town for like a month, he lived in that big ass house you dropped me off at a few times.” 

“Rich boy huh?” 

“His parents are, they just let him stay at the house when he’s in town. They cut him off when he decided to become a teacher. Come on, let’s go listen, he’s really good.” 

Max dragged him over and they found a seat next to Will and Dustin. Steve was sitting at the front of the room, guitar in hand. He was pretty, big brown doe eyes, fluffy brown hair that looked soft, Billy kind of wanted to run his fingers through it. His lips were quite plump and looked very kissable, he glanced over at Max and could see her raising her eyebrows at him, giving him a knowing look, she wasn’t wrong, Steve was his type. And once Steve began to sing Billy was a goner, he looked up and saw Lily, smiling and listening to Steve with rapt attention. 

Billy made it through Steve’s set without getting too lost in his head, part of him was ready to go home, tired from a long day, but the other part wanted to meet Steve, wanted to talk to him for just a few minutes. He got his chance after Steve had packed up, Lily bringing him over to Billy, wanting to introduce the two boys. 

“William, this is my Steve. I told you he was very talented.” Steve blushed under the praise.

“Hi, Steve, Billy. Nice to meet you. Lily is right, you’re quite talented.” Steve gave a shy smile as he replied.

“Thanks, it’s good to meet you too, grandma Lily talks about you a lot when I call. She really likes listening to you read. She loves to read, it’s hard for her now, her eyes seem to keep getting worse, so thanks for doing that.” 

“It’s no problem, Lily’s great, she’s always so good to me.” 

Lily stood between them, she held onto Steve, laughing and smiling, telling stories about each of them. She was guiding the conversation, bringing up topics they had in common, and filling in the gaps when silence would take over. Billy discovered that Lily had told Steve a lot about him, talked about his scholarship and Billy’s own writing, he’d shown Lily a few of the poems he’d written, and she’d raved about him. Steve knew that Billy liked metal music and had a vintage camaro, and when Steve realized he was Max’s brother he seemed to open up more. The rec room had slowly cleared out and by the time the conversation was done neither had realized that Lily had slipped out. 

“Where’d everyone go? It got quiet in here.” Steve said. Billy glanced around, noticing the clock on the wall.

“They’re in dining, it’s dinner time. We should go say bye to Lily, I need to get Max home.”

“Right, I might stay and visit a little longer, I don’t get to see grandma Lily very much, that’s the downside to going to school in the city.” 

They headed to the dining room, Billy a little sad his time with Steve was coming to an end, he was funny and charming. Billy found himself wanting to know a lot more about Steve, he was glad that he had Lily, he could get information from her and he didn’t even have to ask. He would’ve loved to spend the rest of the night getting to know Steve, maybe he’d ask if he was free sometime over the weekend Steve was in town. They made it to the dining room and spotted Lily at a small table with Margaret and Betsy, both ladies had tried to set Billy up with their granddaughter’s. He’d politely declined. 

Steve watched as Billy approached his grandmother, she smiled so sweetly at him. Steve was glad she had someone who came to visit her while he was away. She had really taken to Billy, he was definitely Steve’s opposite, he had an edge to him, but Lily, she was always good at softening people’s edges, even his father’s. Steve hadn’t thought that possible. She was the reason he was still able to afford school, talking his dad into continuing to at least pay the tuition. She would send him a little money each month too, it was enough to afford a modest apartment in a decent neighborhood. So it was not a shock to see the way she handled Billy, letting him be safe enough to show his softer side. And Steve was smitten with him the moment he saw him. The golden tawn and dirt blond curls, he wanted to see what his hair looked like when it wasn’t pulled up. He really liked Billy. Steve was intrigued as his grandma whispered something in Billy’s ear and a blush crept up onto Billy’s face. He wondered what she had said, he thought Billy’s blush was adorable, he wished he could make him blush. Billy stood up and waited as Steve made his way over, letting Steve give Lily a hug and say his goodbyes. As he went to pull away she told him that he should walk Billy to his car. Steve knew better than to question her.

“What did my grandma say, she made you blush,” Steve asked.

Billy looked at him and shook his head. Steve figured Billy wasn’t going to say so he left it. They walked in comfortable silence. Billy seemed to be contemplating something, he seemed a little anxious and Steve wondered what had him on edge. As they were walking it occurred to Steve that none of the kids were around and Billy had mentioned needing to get Max home.

“Hey, where are the kids? I thought you had to get Max home.”

“She left already, Will’s brother picked them up. That’s what Lily said anyway.” Steve nodded, knowing that wasn’t what had Billy blushing. They made it to Billy’s car and Steve found himself wanting to stall, wanting to spend a few more minutes with him. 

“Well this is my baby, she’s gorgeous isn’t she,” Billy said motioning to the blue car.

“She’s cool, how long you had her?”

“Since I was 16, my dad gave her to me, she needed a lot of work and he thought he was getting one over on me, told me if I could get her running I could keep her. I managed to make the money I needed and my friend’s uncle was a major gear head so he was excited to work on her with me. My dad was pissed when I finished restoring her.” 

“Your dad sounds like a jerk, but good for you getting one up on him.”

“You have no idea, pretty boy, it was worth it though, to see the look on his face when I pulled up to the house. And he’s big on keeping his word so he had no choice but to let me keep it.” Billy laughed. Steve was a little stuck on being called a pretty boy.

“Pretty boy?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, seems fitting.” Billy shrugged. He stared at Steve for a minute, he let out a sigh and pulled Steve forward, planting a kiss on him, taking his time to let Steve respond.

Steve let out a small gasp but brought his arms up and circled them around Billy, he opened his lips slightly, inviting Billy to deepen the kiss. Billy pushed Steve back so they were leaning against the car, pressing himself against Steve, who let out a moan. Steve was pulling Billy to him, turning the kiss into a full-on makeout. He smiled to himself, happy with the turn of events. He broke the kiss, needing air. He had his forehead against Billy’s, as they panted into each other.

“Lily told me to take you to dinner, said to make it romantic.” he smiled at Steve

“I’m free on Saturday.” 

“It’s a date.”


End file.
